New Publication

Saints on Easter Island, by Joan Seaver Kurze, tells the history of the carving of the most prominent statue, Maria, Madre de Rapa Nui and her Son, housed within the Church of the Holy Cross on Easter Island along with other carved saints. The book begins with the story of how Seaver Kurze came to Easter Island and initiated her research on the woodcarving tradition. Background on the island and the Rapanui people are provided, along with the concepts of mana and tapu, and the effects of western influences and tourism.

Seaver Kurze details the history of Catholicism on Rapa Nui from the first missionaries who arrived in the 1860s, the years of the islander's confinement in Hanga Roa, the arrival and influence of catechist Nicolas Pakarati, and later of Padre Sebastián Englert, the very popular priest who lived on the island during the 1950s–60s. After Englert's death, Father Melchor Swartzmûller became the resident priest in 1970, when the carving of the first statue, Maria and her Son, took place. Father David Reddy, who arrived in the 1980s, is thought to be the inspiration for the continuing tradition of creating carvings for the church, as he proposed the idea to the island's carvers of replacing the church's plaster saints with carved wooden statues. The notion of cultural overlay, with relation to these carvings, is introduced as a concept that allowed the islanders to maintain their traditional values, while incorporating and adapting to the modern influence of outsiders.

The carving of Maria, Madre de Rapa Nui, is described from its inception to completion. A group of Catholic priests from Chile arrived on the island, and islanders were led to believe that they would be bringing with them a statue known as the Virgen del Carmen (Virgin of Carmen), as part of a religious procession taking place throughout Chile. When it was discovered that the statue had not made the trip, one of the priests requested that the Rapanui people create their own statue of the virgin and her son to be housed permanently in the island church. A group of the island's most talented master carvers worked together for six days on the project, with the statue of Maria and her Son being escorted to the church on the seventh day. Seaver Kurze describes the details of the carving process, the stylistic manifestations, and the Rapanui iconography incorporated into the statue.

With the arrival of Father David Reddy eight years later, more saints were carved for the Church of the Holy Cross, beginning with the Sagrado Corazón, or Sacred Heart, which is stationed prominently on one side of the church near the altar, opposite Maria and her Son. The carving of each "fellow saint" is described in detail and illustrated with color photographs. A chapter is devoted to the importance of the kautoki, or adze. During her research, Seaver Kurze interviewed several master carvers on the island and created a film, Legacy. A Rapa Nui Master Carver at Work that focuses on Juan Haoa Heriveri and his family, with whom she had formed a close friendship during her time on the island.

The book also includes versions of the legend of Tu'u Ko Iho, as recorded by Katherine Routledge and Alfred Métraux, along with the lyrics to "Maria Rapa Nui", a beautiful hymn familiar to everyone who has had the opportunity to attend Sunday Mass on Easter Island. Readers interested in contemporary Rapanui history and the woodcarving tradition of Easter Island will enjoy this book.

Seaver Kurze's previous book, Ingrained Images. Wood Carvings from Rapa Nui, accompanied an exhibition of carvings from Easter Island at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1997. She has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles and was the founding President of the Easter Island Foundation.